Adityanath 'incapable' CM, committed 'sin': SP leader

Senior Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav on Wednesday alleged that Yogi Adityanath is an "incapable" chief minister and said he committed a "sin" by terming the Ardh Kumbh as Kumbh.

In 2017, the Uttar Pradesh government had said that the Ardh Kumbh would be referred to as Kumbh and the Kumbh as Maha Kumbh.

"Adityanath is an incapable chief minister. He committed a sin by terming Ardh Kumbh as Kumbh and tried to belie shastras, which say Kumbh is held in every 12 years," he told an election meeting here.

Ram Gopal, who came here to be present at the filing of nomination by the party's Badaun Lok Sabha candidate, Dharmendra Yadav, also alleged scam in organising of the Kumbh.

The Kumbh was held in Allahabad from January 15 to March 4 at the Sangam, the confluence of the Yamuna, Ganga and the mythical Saraswati rivers, and as per government data, it was attended by over 24 crore people.

Dharmendra Yadav, who is a cousin of SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, was renominated from the seat and he is pitted against Congress's Saleem Iqbal Shervani.

Ram Gopal Yadav termed BJP Badaun aspirant Sangmitra Maurya as an "imported" candidate.

She was in the BSP during the last Lok Sabha polls.

The SP leader said Sanghmitra, who is the daughter of UP cabinet minister Swami Prasad Maurya, earlier tasted defeat in Mainpuri and this time, too, she will meet the same fate in Badaun.

She had contested the 2014 general elections on a BSP ticket from the Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat against SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Sanghamitra was in the news recently for making a controversial statement that she would become a "goondi" (goon) if anyone tries to bully the people of Badaun.